This morning we left Guy Yeoman Hut at seven o'clock for our last day of the trek. We initially had a steep climb, but thereafter we proceeded to head downhill along a river and thereafter, a waterfall. Descending alongside the waterfall had historically been the most difficult and treacherous part of the trek, but as a ladder has now been installed along the most hairy portion of the rock face at the waterfall, the descent turned out to be far less harrowing than it previously must have been.
Subsequent to descending alongside the...

Today - day five of the Mountains of the Moon trek - we began hiking at eight a.m., an hour earlier than on the previous four days. From Kitandara Hut, we steeply ascended out of the Kitandara Valley, and after about one hour's walk, we reached the Freshfield Pass (4280 meters; 14,041 feet). Oddly enough, this portion of the hike reminded me of the steep ascent on my favorite hike close to home at Breakneck Ridge near Cold Spring, New York.
Subsequent to the Freshfield Pass, we began a descent which would prove to be the toughest leg of...

Fantastic! That is the only way to describe the trek from Bujuku Hut onto Elena Hut, and then onwards to Kitandara Hut, where spent the evening. Although it was only a six kilometer hike, it involved an 825 meter elevation gain (2,706 feet) and a 740 meter (2,427 feet) descent. Thankfully the weather was fairly clear in the morning as we left Bujuku Hut at 9 a.m. While we did have to navigate yet another bog and the trail was muddy, the sunny weather meant that the rocks on which we had to climb were dry.
As the trail grew steeper, we...

After dozing off at 10 p.m. last night and awakening at 7:30 a.m., I packed my bag and thereafter ate oatmeal and toast prepared by the cook Augustine. About an hour later, Justus and I set out for the third day of the trek, which consisted of a six kilometer walk to Bujuku Hut.
For the day's hike, I wore only the gumboots and carried no other shoes with me in my day pack, as I had been told this was going to be a muddy route. It was also to be the best day so far of beautiful scenery. The hike began along a very muddy path with a...

Today we made the seven kilometer trek from Nyabitaba Hut to John Matte hut, which took about 4 1/2 hours and saw an elevation gain of some 700 meters (roughly 2,300 feet). I am currently doing this trek at a time when the rainy season is drawing to a close, so it is still quite wet with long stretches of muddy trails as well.
For the first several hours today, the trail was largely dry, and our walking consisted primarily of going over a lot of rocks. It actually reminded me of the many rocky trails in upstate New York and New England....

After first packing my backpack with necessary items for the trek - I left my remaining possessions in my rolling duffel bag at Asoro Holiday Inn for safekeeping - , and thereafter, eating breakfast, mailing a couple of postcards and sending off a couple of emails at the local internet joint, I returned to the Asoro to find a driver from RMS waiting to take me to the RMS office at the trailhead, some 24 kilometers away in the village of Nyakalengija. My trek of the Mountains of the Moon circuit was about to begin.
Upon my arrival at the...

We made it back without being eaten by any lions (or other animals!)The Safari was absolutely amazing. On the first day, we had a group meeting at 7:00am, and we were a bit weary about what was about to happen, but everything turned out great. After the meeting, we drove across the border into Tanzania, and drove to the Snake Park camp ground. Luckily all snakes were in a building! Mom was able to go on her first camel ride though. I refrained as I will be going on one when in Egypt. That night, the owner of the camp ground had a huge BBQ...